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Health Conditions
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Stroke
What are the risk factors?
Risk factors are characteristics that may increase your chance for developing a condition. For ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, risk factors include the following:
Risk factors that can't be controlled:
- Age -- The risk for stroke increases with age. This risk doubles every decade that a person is over the age of 55 years. Most stroke victims are 65 years or older.
- Gender -- Men have about a 30% higher risk for stroke than women do until the age of 55 years. After the age of 55 years, the risk is the same for men and women.
- Race -- Higher death rates from stroke occur in African Americans, Asian-Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics than in whites as a result of increased incidence of high blood pressure.
- Heredity -- The risk for stroke is greater if a parent, brother, or sister has a stroke or transient ischemic attack.
Risk factors that can be changed or that can be controlled:
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- TIAs
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol
- Cigarette smoking
- Alcohol
- Illicit drug use
- Lifestyle factors - inactivity, obesity, poor diet and stress
- High estrogen oral contraceptives, especially in women over 35 years who smoke and women over 40 years who have hypertension or diabetes
- Sickle cell disease
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Note: The above information is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the expertise and judgment of your physician, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional. It is not intended to diagnose a health condition, but it can be used as a guide to help you decide if you should seek professional treatment or to help you learn more about your condition once it has been diagnosed.
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What are the risk factors?
